COMMENT | “Why is Abang Jo doing this to me?” sighed Dr Jeffrey Kitingan (above) in his late night message to me on Jan 9.

The Sabah Opposition Leader was in constant communication with me over the past 48 hours prior to Jan 9 as he was scheduled to speak at a forum on Independence in Kuching scheduled for Jan 11 at my invitation.

The forum entitled, “Independence: The Final Destination” was hosted by the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS), the NGO which I head.

On Jan 8, Jeffrey informed me that he was waiting for “immigration clearance” to enter Sarawak and was expected to be in Kuching on Jan 10.

Then came the bombshell at 11.24pm on Jan 9 when Jeffrey finally confirmed that he was barred from entering, upon receiving a letter from the Sarawak Immigration Department...